5 ways a digital detox will make you feel more relaxed and inspired

31. July 2016

Today, I want to talk about something that concerns us all: We’re spending hours on our phone writing on WhatsApp, scrolling through facebook, Pinterest, Instagram & co, snapchatting what we are currently doing and thinking about what to post next on our social media. It’s something that especially concerns myself as I take my phone & camera everywhere I’m going to, in order to never miss out any opportunity to take photos for my Instagram account and this blog.

I used to think for a long time that the more I time I spend being active on social media, the more inspired I will get for my own social-media channels. I honestly have to say that I get the most of my inspiration from that what I daily see on Instagram, Pinterest or my favourite bloggers. But when you reach a certain point of obsession with your phone and social media, you will just get totally stressed out taking enough photos for the week in order to keep up with all the other people you follow on the different channels.

But I changed that during my vacancies in Italy: I told myself to have one digital detox day a week, where I won’t take my camera with me when meeting friends in a restaurant, where I won’t drive myself crazy to get enough beautiful photos for my Instagram account and my blog and a day where I can just enjoy things without immediately sharing what I see on Instagram. It’s a day where I don’t check out my notifications every minute – A day that is dedicated to my relaxation whilst getting new inspirations by reading my favourite magazines or writing down my thoughts for posts in my notepad. And on the other day, I’m inspired and very looking forward to writing new posts and share new pictures. That’s the reason why I often don’t post anything on a particular day in a week – not because I’m too lazy and also not because I don’t care about my Instagram & blog – but because I just take a day off working and editing photos…

You see we all use our phones and social media differently: For me it’s extremely important to spend a day without writing new posts, editing pictures or working on new projects. And for others, it might be important to turn off their phone to be not reachable by everyone for once to breath in and enjoy the day, as their phone is constantly ringing.

So here are my 5 thoughts why a digital detox is something you should consider trying out.

Moments will be yours:Something I learned on my trip to Italy is that you will enjoy certain moments much more if you forget your phone on purpose… Example: I was looking down on the hills of Tuscany and watched the beautiful sunset that made the whole area look like a dream. But I forgot my phone in my hotel room. I think you can imagine how nervous I got when I figured out that I won’t be able to take any photos of that beautiful scenery and how angry I was not to share this moment on Instagram. But after 5 minutes I just found myself enjoying the scenery and sitting there until it got dark. It was a moment that couldn’t be truthfully caught and instead of sharing it on Instagram, it was mine to keep.

You will truly value time spent with others:We all now that moment when you meet up with friends or family, going to a nice Café or restaurant and once that delicious meal arrived you would take out your phone to post that delicious food to your Ssnapchat or Instagram handle. And that’s totally alright but for once, you should just turn off your phone and enjoy that moment with your friends or family for yourself.

You will get your inspiration back: Especially if you are very active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc…, a day without worrying what to post next, when to post it and what kind of content you should post will be great for you! Just have a day or an afternoon for yourself and your relaxation without worrying about not being in touch with everyone every single second. You will see that ideas will only come when you don’t force yourself to get them immediately.

You will learn who you really are: Okay that might sound a bit stupid but let’s be honest. We are not always the person we look like or pretend to be on our social media channels. Just because you are blogging about travelling, you don’t spend every day relaxing on the beach and shopping in Paris just because your photos look like that. And all the supermodels and stars don’t have a perfect life, looking beautiful all day long without any personal problems like it seems through social media. Through platforms like Instagram, it’s quite easy to loose sight of who we are and to focus on our online identities instead. That’s why a day off your social media handle will give you the opportunity to be more in touch with yourself.

You will be able to spend the day how you want to and to be spontaneous: Social media is sometimes quite limiting us and the way how we spend our day. Many people have special times of the day to post their content in order to be seen by as many people as possible. And here we go: Imagine you would love to watch your favourite series with some popcorn but since it’s the best time to post that photo you’ve been waiting to post the whole day, you’ve got to post that photo and reply to all the comments instead. And that’s why it’s so important to have a day for yourself, a day that you don’t have to plan because of your next photo to upload.

I would also recomend to watch the TEDx Talk about digital detox, if you’re interested in this topic! Just click here for the video.